At a news conference to promote immigration reform at Waukesha City Hall (Organized by Wisconsin businesses):

I'm not seeing anybody doing anything," said Dagoberto Ibarra, who ran for alderman in Milwaukee's 8th District in 2004. "This is the most useless Congress in the last eight years ... because a (N-word) is in charge.

Ibarra's defense was to deny that he was referring to president, saying that:

I was making reference to what Republicans say

If that was in fact his intention, he could have come up with a much better way of saying it.

But what I actually find more offensive is this statement by one of the organizers afterwards:

But at the news conference Wednesday in Waukesha, conservative business leaders expressed a desire for Republican legislators to work with Obama to develop immigration reform. They denounced Ibarra's remark about the president, saying they were unaware of the businessman's views and hadn't expected him to speak in the first place.

"Orville (Seymer, of the conservative group Citizens for Responsible Government) asked him to help assist us by being part of the backdrop for the visual," said George Klaetsch, a member of the Partnership for a New Economy, an immigration reform group founded by former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

So this guy was invited to stand up front with the guys who were speaking and look Hispanic, but not actually speak to the subject of immigration despite the fact that he is a successful Hispanic businessman.

At a news conference to promote immigration reform at Waukesha City Hall (Organized by Wisconsin businesses):

I'm not seeing anybody doing anything," said Dagoberto Ibarra, who ran for alderman in Milwaukee's 8th District in 2004. "This is the most useless Congress in the last eight years ... because a (N-word) is in charge.

When I got to this point I immediately thought, "he's not saying that, he's making a point about the Republican attitude." And I didn't even need air quotes or a funny face or a sarcastic tone of voice to get that.

wack wack wrote:When I got to this point I immediately thought, "he's not saying that, he's making a point about the Republican attitude." And I didn't even need air quotes or a funny face or a sarcastic tone of voice to get that.

wack wack wrote:When I got to this point I immediately thought, "he's not saying that, he's making a point about the Republican attitude." And I didn't even need air quotes or a funny face or a sarcastic tone of voice to get that.

My original comment on this didn't make it clear, but I agree that his point was pretty obvious. He still could have done a much better job stating it in a way that didn't distract from his point. A headline that states "Milwaukee area developer blames republican racism for congressional inaction" would have been much better to see.

Though I see the article has been updated since I first read it:

Ibarra also accused Republicans of being Nazis and the tea party of being similar to the Ku Klux Klan, and he said Democrats had done nothing to fix the country's immigration laws.

The racial slur against Obama came at the end of an impassioned speech in which Ibarra criticized the failure of both political parties to produce comprehensive immigration reform, a failure he attributed to discrimination against Latinos.

He was a kid who was born and raised in Michigan, drafted by the Cardinals in 1967, and saw things he couldn't believe.

Simmons vividly recalls the hurt and anger when his own Cardinals' teammates, Bob Gibson and Bill White, were turned away when they tried to move into an upscale neighborhood in St. Louis. Gibson wound up simply staying at a downtown hotel during the season, and immediately leaving for his hometown of Omaha, Neb., when the season ended. He remembers a disproportionate amount of cars pulled over in Clayton and Ladue belonging to African-American drivers....Simmons, like the rest of the St. Louis community, is awaiting to see the results of the investigation before he makes any judgments. Yet, he feels for the peaceful demonstrators, who simply want their voice heard.

"It's like everything is fine as long as you're quiet,'' Simmons says, "but please, don't band together and get political. Things have gotten better in some respects. But a lot of things haven't changed so much."

Thank you Henry,I appreciate that last post.My post before yours spoke to the top of the thread.Generally this is all related, did you have a specific association in mind?I must have missed it.Eitherway, I think this attention important.

The State Journal examined 18 months of police drug arrests for its report Sunday. The newspaper said the disparity comes despite national surveys that show blacks and whites use pot at about the same rate. The State Journal also noted that blacks in Madison make up more than half the people arrested or cited on marijuana charges, despite accounting for only about 7% of the city population.

Police Chief Mike Koval called the numbers evidence of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and said he supports legalizing marijuana.

Koval said police don't selectively enforce laws, but are often responding to citizen complaints about drug dealing in their neighborhoods.

He also said police patrol troubled neighborhoods — often home to more diverse populations — more than other parts of the city in the interest of public safety. More officers in a neighborhood mean it's more likely they'll see someone openly using drugs.

"It's because of where we are responding to calls for service, who we are being given information about and what is then manifesting itself in public spaces, that contributes to the numbers being so skewed," Koval said.

So Koval thinks it is an issue with the criminal justice system, but it isn't the fault of the police.

The State Journal examined 18 months of police drug arrests for its report Sunday. The newspaper said the disparity comes despite national surveys that show blacks and whites use pot at about the same rate. The State Journal also noted that blacks in Madison make up more than half the people arrested or cited on marijuana charges, despite accounting for only about 7% of the city population.

Police Chief Mike Koval called the numbers evidence of racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and said he supports legalizing marijuana.

Koval said police don't selectively enforce laws, but are often responding to citizen complaints about drug dealing in their neighborhoods.

He also said police patrol troubled neighborhoods — often home to more diverse populations — more than other parts of the city in the interest of public safety. More officers in a neighborhood mean it's more likely they'll see someone openly using drugs.

"It's because of where we are responding to calls for service, who we are being given information about and what is then manifesting itself in public spaces, that contributes to the numbers being so skewed," Koval said.

So Koval thinks it is an issue with the criminal justice system, but it isn't the fault of the police.

I smoke weed every day (on the advice of Nate Dogg, in consultation with Doctor Dre, who I'm not even entirely sure is a real doctor) so I've had a handful of run-ins with MPD when I've either been holding or consuming, and so far that's resulted in zero citations or arrests. It's not purely a question of geography and circumstances, as Chief Koval claims. Officer discretion is defintely part of the equation.